Digital Camera Batteries

Digital cameras have come a long way since Kodak released the first professional digital camera system in way back in 1991. There have been massive leaps forward in terms for performance and size in almost all aspects of digital camera technology with cameras getting smaller,cleverer and cheaper almost by the day.

Camera Battery Technology

One aspect of digital camera technology that does seem to be getting left behind a little is the technology involved in storing the digital cameras electricity. Digital camera batteries still seem a bit chunky, heavy and dumb compared to the cameras they are clipped to, with even the best only giving users the chance to take around 300 shots before needing to be charged for a few hours. Also in these times when it is quite easy to find a cheap digital camera, digital camera batteries are still quite expensive.

The biggest improvement in digital camera batteries in recent years has come from the replacement of Nickel-Cadmium with Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) and Lithium Ion (Li-ion), which has lead to digital camera batteries that no longer suffer (or suffer quite so much) from the dreaded memory effect problem, which tainted the first rechargeable camera batteries to hit the marketplace.

Digital cameras do get more life from their batteries these days, but some of that extra life is down to improvements digital camera manufactures have made in digital camera power consumption, a good example of this is the Venus engine used in the Panasonic Lumix range of digital cameras.

Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) and Lithium Ion (Li-ion) digital camera batteries both have their positive and negative points. Lets take a quick look at a few below.

Nickel-Cadmium Camera Batteries

Pros

• Inexpensive
• Reliable
• Can have high discharge up to 10C
• Can be used over wide temperature range: - 20C to + 60C

Cons

• Heavy (in relation to equivalent niCd)
• Can 'die' rapidly and unexpectedly
• Has 'Memory effect'
• Toxic

Nickel-Metal Hydride Camera Batteries

Pros

• Energy density up to twice NiCd
• High headline capacity

Cons

• Poor low temperature performance
• Cannot deliver high load
• Low cycle life
• Slight memory effect.

Lithium Ion Camera Batteries

Pros

• Weighs less than equivalent niCd
• Highest power to weight ratio of any cell
• No memory effect (No discharge required)
• Wide operating temperature
• Greener environment, no poisonous material is inside

Cons

• Expensive
• Internal resistance is approximately 100% more than that of a NiCd, so poor performance with high current applications i.e. a digital camera with light

Environmental issues.

NiCd Camera batteries still hold a small part of the camera battery market, but due to environmental and reliability issues their presence in the market is reducing. Nickel-Cadmium is toxic, subject to recycling requirements and new green taxes such as those levied in Scandinavian countries.

The greener option are Nickel-Metal Hydride digital Camera Batteries, but the greenest of the bunch are Li-ion batteries which use ion, which is inherently safer and allows Li-ion batteries to be disposed of in household waste.

It has to be said that nothing about your digital camera or digital camera battery is very green as the energy required in the manufacture of such things as even a cheap digital camera has to come from somewhere and the generation of this energy is likely to be damaging to the environment, therefore pick your digital camera wisely and keep it for a long time.


The best place to buy a Lumix Camera is the Panasonic website as this ensures you will get a great after sales service and free delivery.


What Digital Camera, May 2005 -
'... the Lumix range is one of the best on the market.'

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